Make sure Tet's Stepmom gets the best netbook on the market for the cash

[Smooth Groove]

Seems really impressive for a $400 machine.  Apparently, it can play WOW really well. 

That would be really awesome if a netbook was capable of playing most of the PC games from the Xbox/PS2 era with acceptable performance. 

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptop/hp-mini-311.aspx?page=1



With the Mini 311, HP has broken the netbook mold; no longer will users be limited to simple activities on these small systems, nor will they have to pay upwards of $600 for portability and performance. At its $399 price, consumers in the market for an inexpensive system can’t go wrong with this notebook. While we would have liked a better touchpad, the Mini 311 offers dramatic performance benefits in comparison to traditional netbooks while still offering nearly six hours of battery life.

Specs:

Microprocessor   1.66 GHz Intel Atom Processor N280
Microprocessor Cache   512 KB Level 2 cache
Memory   1024 MB (1 x 1024 MB)
Maximum Memory   3 GB
Video Graphics   NVIDIA ION LE
Keyboard   92% Full size keyboard
Pointing Device   Touch Pad with dedicated vertical Scroll Up/Down
Hard Drive   160 GB (5400 rpm)
Display   11.6” Diagonal HD LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1366 x 768)
Network Card   Ethernet 10/100BT integrated network interface
Wireless Connectivity   802.11b/g WLAN

Bluetooth
Sound   Altec Lansing speakers
Keyboard   82 key (92% Full size)
Pointing Device   Touch Pad with dedicated vertical Scroll Up/Down
External Ports   

    * 3 USB 2.0
    * HDMI
    * VGA
    * RJ-45
    * Headphone-out/Microphone in combo jack
    * AC adapter

Dimensions   28.9 cm (L) x 20.4 cm (W) x 1.98 - 3.06 cm (H)
Weight   1.46 kg
Power   

    * 65 W AC Power Adapter
    * 6-Cell Lithium Polymer (26Whr)

[Van Cruncheon]

it is indeed awesome.

[DJ_Tet]

That's a good topic Smooth Groove and Imma let you finish, but let's turn this into "Make sure Tet's Stepmom gets the best netbook on the market for the cash" recommendation thread as I was going to start one.

My parents have never had a computer, but they want one to watch sermons online and do some basic browsing.  Can I use a word processor (or Office) on a netbook?  Are netbooks coming with Win 7 on them now?  If not how much longer will they have to wait?

Can they hook a netbook up to an LCD monitor to make it a 'mini-desktop' at home?  Can they hook up a full-size keyboard too?

Should they just spend a couple hundred more and get a real laptop?

[AdmiralViscen]

So this one lets you up the RAM without voiding the warranty or anything?

[Smooth Groove]

So this one lets you up the RAM without voiding the warranty or anything?

Don't all notebook manufacturers let you upgrade ram yourself? 

Even if it voids the warranty, I'd still do it.  I bet this computer will fly with an extra 1gb of ram. 

[BlueTsunami]

Can these things handle YouTube and Hulu? I have no experience with the Atom processor but I've read that Hulu tends to stutter (shitty Flash).

[CajoleJuice]

Can they hook a netbook up to an LCD monitor to make it a 'mini-desktop' at home?  Can they hook up a full-size keyboard too?

Considering there's both an HDMI and VGA port and also 3 USB ports, I can't see a problem.

I kinda want this, and netbooks have never particularly interested me.

[Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich]

Can these things handle YouTube and Hulu? I have no experience with the Atom processor but I've read that Hulu tends to stutter (shitty Flash).

No it won't (for now) because Flash is essentially offloaded to the CPU rather than the GPU.

GPU-accelerated Flash is coming next year though:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/28/gpu-accelerated-720p-flash-video-gets-demoed-on-a-netbook-smoot/

[DJ_Tet]

Hmm, I hadn't considered flash not being able to be run on netbooks.  That might cause an issue, I'll have to check and see how the online sermons are presented.

Thanks for the info so far everyone!  And thanks for the title change Smooth lol, I hope you didn't think I was being completely serious though   Hopefully we can get some good netbook advice here though cause I know there are a lot of gadget-heads here.